A/N: While I am pretty sure at this point in the story no one could give a rat's a**, I would like to issue a CONTINUITY alert.
In other words, I messed up. It happens more than you know.
If you recall back in chapter 35, Layton 'mentions' he knew certain things were off limits with Melanie when they played 'Secrets'. One of those things was if she had a child, she might have been married, and who was he.
Well, folks, WAAAAYYYYY back in chapter 17, if you follow the progression of those questions, assuming, as implied, Melanie started, Layton directly asked, "Were you ever married?' Plus, it makes no sense Melanie would asked the question. She knew for a fact Layton was married.
Just sayin'...
Chapter 39 - Changes - Parte Quarta
He expected resistance. He expected protest. He expected anything but what he got.
Complete compliance.
Melanie kept him locked in that heated kiss for longer than he felt he had ever kissed anyone in his life. When they finally pulled apart, without a word she frantically began pulling his jack off of his shoulders and shoving it down his arms.
Without thinking, Layton ask what he later conceded was the stupidest question of his life. "How long do we have?"
Melanie shook her head quickly. "Exposed directly to the cold, we won't have a lot of time."
Layton had already stripped her out of her own jacket. "Lady, I'm not going to need a lot of time, trust me." He answered as he worked on the fasteners of her engineer's uniform with shaking fingers. But he finally gave up on the fasteners and suddenly just settled for ripping the top open. Seeing her shiver slightly, he reached for her and pulled her closer to him so she was flush now with the front of his also exposed chest. Although he couldn't for the life of him remember how or when she got his shirt open.
Holding her like that for a few moments, Layton suddenly heard her voice next to his ear.
"You're first announcement to the train was very well done." She quietly whispered.
Layton pulled her back with a confused look. "What?"
But Melanie only gave him a small smile. "I promised myself I would tell you that." She answered his look before pulling him back into a rough kiss.
They locked together again in a feverish kiss as Layton reached behind her and slid his hands down over that perfectly shaped derriere and gave each cheek a firm squeeze, eliciting a small moan from her directly into his mouth. Fueled by that, he brought one hand up and slid it along her outer thigh, traveling back up to her waist again, where he delved his hand down under the waistband of her pants. He moaned back deeply into her mouth as he ran his hand across her naked skin.
With a better hold on her body now, he quickly maneuvered her into his lap. He didn't personally care if anyone else survived and this was how they found them frozen. He conceded at least they would know he died a happy man.
But a sudden thought interrupted his idea. Pulling back he locked eyes with her. He liked the fact she looked dazed and rumpled and half mad with pure lust.
At least he wasn't alone in that.
But it was time for stupid question number two.
"Are you sure?" He ask her quickly.
Melanie grabbed his hair in a painful grip as she glared back at him. "Shut up, Layton." Was all she answered him as she dove back down to cover his already swollen lips with her's, driving her tongue past them as she deepened the kiss.
He was just starting to push the material of her pants down when a suddenly noise stopped them both.
It wasn't much of a sound really. A small click.
Then another.
Then another.
Both of them turned back to the door at exactly the same time.
Suddenly the instrument board next to it burst to life.
They both sat frozen in that position, neither of them making any move as though any movement would stop the process.
A slight rumble answered their efforts, giving the whole train a slight shake.
Then another soft rumble, but a bit louder.
"It's moving." Melanie said in a breathless whisper. "It's trying to move." She frantically backed out of his lap. "Do you have any more charges!" She nearly yelled at him.
Layton grabbed his discarded jacket and fished into the pockets. He pulled out the last three charges and held them up for her. He noted briefly she already had her jacket back on somehow and had the lighter already lit. Layton reached behind him and opened the door to the tunnel again. The three charges lit immediately and Layton threw them quickly down the tunnel once more.
The small explosion followed again. And once again he covered her with his own body to protect her.
This time the answer was instantaneous. As soon as the charges exploded down the tunnel the train shook and a loud creak echoed through the chamber.
She could practically feel the train shudder as it tried to start its wheels over the track again, trying to get some grip on them.
"Come on, girl." She whispered to it as she pulled herself back up and laid her hand over the door to the tunnel. "Do it for me. Do it for us."
Layton slowly reached around her and laid his hand over her's.
"Come on, Snowpiercer." He whispered to it. "Show your mom what you're made of."
Seemingly at his words the train gave a mighty groan and the wheels seemed to find the traction they were looking for. Melanie swore she could feel every joint on the train pop as it broke the icy hold on it and the train slowly began to move.
Sitting with Layton still pressed against her from behind, Melanie suddenly gave a sobbing laugh as she felt the steel rods begin to turn the wheels once again. Above them they could already hear the cheering in the engine room.
Behind her Layton let his head fall forward as he laid it against her neck, quietly letting his own tears break free as he felt the train slowly gaining speed.
They were safe.
They weren't going to die.
Reaching behind him, with tears still flowing freely from her eyes, Melanie grabbed his jacket and started to try and pull it over him.
"Here." She told him. "You're going to freeze."
Layton stopped trying to put the jacket back on as he stared back at her. A soft smile came to his lips as he stared back at her, then shook his head.
"Not today." He whispered to her.
More than taking his next breath, Layton swore all he wanted to do was kiss this woman again. But Melanie seemed to have wiped the last ten minutes from her mind as she got shakily to her feet, grabbing for her jacket and, pulling it over the ripped portion of her uniform, zipped it up to cover the evidence. A split second to check she was adequately covered and she began moving for the door to the stairs.
"I have to get to the engine room." She announced quickly. But she stopped suddenly and turned to him pulling himself just as shakily to his own feet as he pulled his outer coat around him. "You need to get on the public system." She told him. "The passengers will be frantic about what's going on. Keep it short and simple as always. Not too much information. Just let them know the train is moving again." She was already heading up the stairs with him close behind. "Oh, and tell them to expect rolling black outs. We're going to have to conserve energy until the train can fully power up again. I'll get the other engineers working around the clock on checking the systems. Then we'll start analyzing the overall incident and see what we can do to try and make sure it doesn't happen again."
Layton suddenly reached forward and grabbed her hand, stopping her. "Melanie. Wait."
She turned a confused, questioning look back to him.
He gave her a soft, pleading smile in the dim light. "Don't we have just two small seconds here?" He ask.
But Melanie all but yanked her hand free. "We don't even have one." She answered, and practically tore up the steps of the ladder. Layton watched her go, thinking she looked like she couldn't get away from him fast enough. With a quiet sigh he followed behind her.
He would let it go for now. She was right. They had other matters that needed their immediate attention. But though it may be a big train, she couldn't run forever. They were going to have to sit down and talk about what nearly happened between them eventually.
Reaching the top of the stairs, Layton was greeted by the sight of Melanie wrapped tightly in Bennett's arms as the other engineers patted her on the back and offered congratulations.
"I knew she wouldn't let you down, Melanie." Bennett was exclaiming happily. "I knew you could get her running again." A series of kisses were rained over her before he simply pulled her back into his embrace once more.
Layton tried not to stare too long, but the whole scene irked him. She couldn't give him two seconds...or even one. But she did seem to have time for everyone else.
Suddenly Bennett turned her about in his embrace, causing her to come nearly face to face with Layton. While her stare was unreadable to him, he left her no such question as to his feelings.
Climbing out of the stairwell, he brushed past the others.
"I'm going to the communications room." He stated.
No one else paid his tone much mind as they offered him congratulations as well as he walked past them. But Melanie heard the resentment in every word.
Pulling back slightly from Bennett, she turned towards him. "Layton?"
But he kept moving, putting as much distance between them as he could. The communications room was now his sanctuary. To get away from everyone. To push his feelings to the side and focus on other matters.
On the way there he met several passengers who had ventured out into the hallways. Few of them had any idea of his role in anything that had happened. They only knew Melanie and the engineers. But they still were greeting him with cheers and shouts of exhilaration that the train was moving again.
Once at the communications room, he closed the door behind him and locked it. Seating himself in the familiar chair, he took a few moments to recompose himself before he began the announcement.
"Passengers of Snowpiercer." He started, then paused for a moment to allow everyone to calm down enough to listen to him. "As you no doubt know, the train is once again moving. While this was our ultimate goal, there are several things you will need to be aware of as we move forward from here"
He went on to make the announcements Melanie had laid out for him. They still had to be on alert. Things were not stable yet. There would be rolling black outs as they worked to bring the train back up to full power. If you weren't directly involved in that work, you were to remain in your cabin or in some safe location, like a mess hall or standard work area. Everyone was advised to still attempt to conserve as much body heat as possible as the rolling black outs could last for up to an hour at a time. He then began to list areas of the train where the heat would likely be significantly cut back and the passengers were to avoid.
If anyone were to have stopped him leaving the room a half hour later and asked him what he had said, he swore he wouldn't have remembered even half of it. Although he said all the right things and managed to sound confident and reassuring to those listening, only a small portion of his brain was on what he was saying.
The announcements only took a few minutes. The rest of the thirty minutes he spent in that room he sat at the console with his head resting on folded arms that lay on the desk in front of him, trying to get himself back under control.
As much as she could irritate him at times, he never wished more in his life that Audrey would walk through the door behind him with her sometimes crazy but often sound advice. He felt he could use a little of her wisdom right now.
Even though they were several train cars apart now, he felt he could describe in perfect detail everything Melanie was doing right then. Sitting at her own console, listening to those around her feeding her information while she analyzed the readings on her own computer screen. He seriously doubted he was even a passing thought in that analytical brain of her's.
While in her former sanctuary, she was crowding almost every other thought out of his.
Pulling up finally, he rested his head in his hands. How was he going to fix this?
Could it even be fixed?
